Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were fishing for marlin near Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles when they spotted something floating in the water. That something, though, turned out to be a someone.
The men, returning from a morning fishing trip, spotted the man on Nov. 6. The man treading water in the Pacific Ocean identified himself as a Royal Caribbean employee, a pianist, who had fallen overboard from the ship he was working on, CBS LA reported.
They found — and rescued — the man about 20 miles off the coast in the middle of the ocean.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,'” Garrett recalled. Norton said, “Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” adding, “The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die.”
Garrett and Norton called for emergency assistance and Newport Beach lifeguards responded to help them. Battalion Chief Adam Yacenda told the local CBS News affiliate they believe the Ovation of the Seas musician likely fell off the ship about nine hours earlier, at around 2:30 a.m.
The man, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, was transported to the Orange County Global Medical Center for care and is expected to make a miraculous recovery, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
“You have this crazy super El Niño year,” said Norton. “This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water’s 76 degrees. A different year, no way he makes it.”
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean said, “We are providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share.”
When Norton and Garrett pulled the man out, Norton remembered he was clearly in shock and said the only words he spoke were, “Thank you; I thought I was gonna die.”
As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent establishment, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.